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'Unfussy' brain finds ways of coping with loss of a hand

People born without one hand, who are still able to use both limbs well in otherwise two-handed tasks, are likely to show brain activity which resembles that of people with two hands, an Oxford University study has found.

'The brain doesn't care if you are born with only one hand. The brain is not fussy about whether there is a hand at the end of the arm, a prosthetic or a "stump" – so long as it is used in a similar way,’ says lead author Dr Tamar Makin from the University of Oxford’s Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB).